Gears of War: E-Day is getting a collaboration that connects the game's soundtrack to four custom Gibson guitars. Xbox and Gibson revealed the project ahead of E-Day's October 6 launch, with hand-painted Les Paul and SG instruments inspired by Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago and the series' themes of brotherhood and loss.
Artist Luke Preece created the artwork, while composer Adam Lastiwka has also used Gibson instruments while building E-Day's score.
The guitars are tied to the game's characters
Xbox says four custom guitars were produced for the collaboration. The designs use the Les Paul and SG as canvases for art based on Marcus and Dom rather than simply putting a Gears logo on a production model.
Three of the instruments are intended as sweepstakes prizes, with the collection also set for a public appearance around Gamescom. Anyone interested in entering should use the official Xbox promotion terms rather than assuming social posts or reposted images contain the full eligibility rules.
Xbox's feature on the collaboration goes deeper into the art and music. Preece describes his connection to the original Gears, while Lastiwka explains how different guitars became part of the score's sound palette.
Gibson guitars are also in the soundtrack
The collaboration is not completely separate from the game itself. Lastiwka says he used instruments including a 1942 J-45 acoustic, a baritone SG, Les Pauls and an Explorer while composing music for E-Day.
That range gives the partnership a stronger creative link than a normal merchandise drop. Acoustic guitar can support quieter scenes, while heavily detuned electric instruments can create harsher textures for combat and the Locust threat.
Xbox reports that Lastiwka has written a large amount of music for the project, but players have only heard a small sample through trailers and released themes. It is therefore too early to describe the entire score from the few cues already public.
E-Day launches October 6
Xbox's announcement places the collaboration in the final stretch before Gears of War: E-Day launches on October 6 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Steam, with Game Pass availability at launch.
That timing explains why the guitars are appearing now: they can function as physical art pieces, soundtrack promotion and a sweepstakes without revealing a new gameplay system.
For Gears fans, the interesting part is the overlap between promotion and production. The same family of instruments being turned into display pieces is also being used in the music of the game they promote.
It is still a brand collaboration, and nobody needs a custom guitar to understand E-Day. But the project has a real connection to the creative work behind the game, which makes it more interesting than a logo swap.
The next useful checkpoint is the game itself. When E-Day releases in October, players will finally hear how much of Lastiwka's guitar-heavy approach survives outside trailers—and whether those quiet J-45 moments and aggressive low-tuned textures actually shape the full campaign.
The custom instruments themselves are promotional one-offs rather than a newly announced retail guitar line. Xbox describes three of the four pieces as sweepstakes prizes, so the sensible way to read the collaboration is as campaign art built on real Gibson models, not as a standard product launch with broad availability.
Anyone interested in the giveaway should use the official rules linked by Xbox rather than assume every region or age group is eligible. Sweepstakes terms can be narrower than the global audience for Gears, and the guitars are not required to access any game content.
Reporting notes